The Matrix Online Beta Impressions

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We pop a pill, enter Monolith's extension of the unique virtual reality property and jack out with initial information.

By Richard Aihoshi - 'Jonric'

When The Matrix Online goes live next month, Monolith's persistent state project will give us the opportunity to jack into the newest segment of the Wachowski brothers' intriguing property. Upon its debut in 1999, the first movie in their trilogy captured the imagination of millions with its combination of explosive action and a unique setting, a complex computer simulation created by a nefarious artificial intelligence to occupy people's minds in a false reality while their bodies served as a source of energy. Concentrated in the city of Zion, those humans who understood what was happening fought back. At the end of the third chapter, a fragile state of truce existed, with neither side truly at ease. In this kind of unsettled environment, there are many ways for those who know what's real to help determine how the future will unfold.

In the impending massively multiplayer endeavor, players will inhabit a sizeable city, one that appears quite normal. However, appearances are misleading. Beneath the peaceful exterior, the war between humanity and the machines rages again, with the survival of both plus the fate of the world hanging in the balance. As one of the operatives who will resolve the outcome, your character will enjoy what may be unprecedented flexibility, thanks to an advancement system incorporating the ability to swap in different pieces of "ability code" that support assorted play styles. Your look will also be highly customizable, with quite a few parameters you can select, ranging from gender to body type, hairstyle, skin coloration, tattoos, facial details and more. Recently, we had the chance to see what lies ahead for new red and blue pills in only a few weeks time.

Includes eight exclusive screenshots

Character creation is based on templates bearing names like Detached Spectator, Fanatic Self Improver, New Age Hippy and True Believer. There are 10 in total, each with a different initial distribution of points among the five attributes. Perception is the ability to see subtle changes; it's especially beneficial for activities requiring careful study, like martial arts. Focus refers to concentration, which is linked to various controlled actions such as sneaking. Reason represents an aptitude for solving problems; this is most helpful when writing code and performing other tasks requiring logic. Belief equates with confidence in oneself, a necessity for the likes of hyper-jumping and combat toughness, while Vitality is tied to health and the ability to absorb damage. You begin life with 40 points, divided equally except that each template moves three from one category to another. For example, Inquisitive Genius raises Reason to 11 by dropping Belief to 5, while Secluded Introvert increases Focus while reducing Perception.

Once you've made a choice among the templates, the game offers considerable flexibility with respect to giving your character a distinctive appearance. A number of aspects you can vary are noted above; in all, there are nine physical ones and seven clothing selections. While the team has elected to use a system of pre-set choices without morphing capabilities, the overall level of customizability is still quite high, and becomes much greater within the game itself, where the available selection of apparel increases tremendously. It should also be noted that benefits can be coded into attire so that, at least in theory, you don't have to choose between a piece that's more beneficial and one you'd rather wear for reasons of fashion.

After you type in your chosen moniker, play begins with a relatively brief tutorial segment that shows you various basics, starting with the Residual Self Image and Inner Strength bars, which are more or less equivalent to health and mana in a fantasy setting, how to interact with a friendly NPC via conversation as well as the transfer of items and how to equip an item of clothing from inventory. Next up is some hand to hand fighting. You learn that it's possible to use a few different types of attacks, then get to try them out against a simulated opponent in a practice dojo. When you feel ready, you proceed to a shoot-out using a pistol before the final segment, which involves using a hard line to upload the bits of loot you've acquired. You also gain a level, which gives you a point to raise an attribute of your choosing before jacking into the matrix for the first time.

Upon arrival, you can explore and speak with various NPCs with exclamation points over their heads. Each will give you a small piece of information about the world. The other basic alternative is to use the phone icon to call a contact named Tyndall, who will ask you to undertake a simple newbie mission. This introduces the main task giver and lets you see the aids to help in finding your destination. A red dot appears on the compass, which is centered at the bottom of the screen, while a floating indicator in the main portion shows both direction and distance. So far, I've only been sent to indoor locations, always in multi-story buildings and never on the ground floor. This means taking an elevator or stairs; there's no need to guess since it seems only any given edifice has only one or the other, not both. Getting to the correct floor is simple since it's clearly designated, although it's a bit odd that elevator doors never open automatically. Actually, neither do any others. Also curious is the seemingly complete absence of basements.